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Unboxed a new monitor yesterday and on your dead pixel test there's a tiny green dot that stays lit on the black screen. On white it's invisible. Is this a dead pixel or a stuck pixel? Can it be fixed, and is one enough to return the monitor? I'm still in the 14 day window.
A green dot that stays lit on black and vanishes on white is a stuck sub-pixel, not a dead pixel. Stuck pixels sometimes respond to a colour-flashing tool. Inside a 14 day window, the retailer's return policy is usually your easiest route, whatever the manufacturer's pixel policy says.
Your description points clearly to a stuck sub-pixel, and the difference matters.
Each pixel is made of three sub-pixels: red, green and blue. A dead pixel cannot light at all, so it shows as a dark dot on a white or coloured screen. A stuck sub-pixel is always on, so it shows as a coloured dot on a black screen. Yours is green on black and invisible on white, which is the textbook stuck green sub-pixel. A white dot on black would be a fully bright pixel.
Stuck sub-pixels sometimes respond to a pixel-flashing tool, which rapidly cycles colours over the spot for a while. It does not always work, and a revived pixel can occasionally return, but it costs nothing to try. A dead pixel whose transistor has failed cannot be revived this way.
On returning it: manufacturers' pixel policies are usually written around ISO 9241-307 classes, which allow a small number of defects on many consumer monitors, so a single stuck sub-pixel may be within the manufacturer's policy. Lenovo's published pixel policy is a good example of how those limits are set out. But you are inside the retailer's return window, and retailer returns are often simpler than a manufacturer warranty claim. If the dot bothers you, read the retailer's policy and act before the window closes.
Avoid pressing on the panel to fix it. It gets suggested online, and it can make things worse.
Tested on: Applies to LCD monitors on Windows 11 with Edge, Chrome or Firefox. Defect definitions per published ISO 9241-307 pixel policies such as Lenovo's.
Checked by Isabela Costa on . How we verify answers
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